The Ultimate Spa Guide to Miami

The 15 best places for R&R in the Magic City.

Spend five minutes on the golden shores of Miami and you’ll see why this sun-and-sand capital so famously brings the heat. Gorgeous people are all around—frolicking in the surf, sipping rosé by the pool, and sidling up to the bar at a swanky beachfront lounge. But after a few days joining them on the indulgent, party-centric scene, chances are you’ll be in need of a relaxing respite. Thankfully, this appearance-minded metropolis is filled with luxury day spas, many of which call the city’s top hotels home.

Whether you need a Swedish massage to shake off last night’s party, or want to tone, trim, and define your beach bod with a sculpting wrap, Miami’s premier spas have a treatment for every wellness-seeker. Many options extend beyond simply promoting relaxation or giving your skin a seriously beautiful boost, offering functional medicine consultations and New Age, mind-body therapies that will keep you looking fit and fabulous long after you leave the Magic City.

Here, we break down 15 of the city’s best spas, whether you’re looking for a quick refresh or a full-day of detoxing, relaxing, and beautifying. Consider this permission to indulge.

Tierra Santa Healing House

Though the name translates to “holy ground healing house,” you don’t have to be a soul-meets-body yogi to appreciate the experience at Faena Miami Beach’s 22,000-square-foot Tierra Santa Healing House spa. In fact, there are just as many beauty and skincare offerings as there are “healing arts.” The spa has partnered with both all-natural cult-favorite Naturopathica (cleansing facials are standouts) and French heritage brand Biologique Recherche (try the micro-needling treatment) to give its treatments a science-backed kick. But if you want to explore the traditional culture of South American healing or holistic therapies led by world-class physicians, this is definitely the place to do it.

Tierra Santa Healing House
Photo: Courtesy Faena Miami Beach

Treatment to book: For exclusive use of the mesmerizing green marble-covered hammam, book the Hammam Rose Ritual. It starts with a lemongrass-and-mimosa scrub atop the hexagonal platform of heated Amazonite stone, followed by a restorative mask of volcanic clay and calendula, ending with a jasmine-scented steam and calming rose-oil body massage.

IconBrickell Spa

Upon entering the Philippe Starck–designed IconBrickell spa at the W Miami, your eye won’t know where to land first: Sparkling plunge pools, a canary-yellow chandelier, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Key Biscayne all make for a visual feast. Counterbalancing the sensory overload are the treatments, which promise an abundance of relaxing and detoxifying options. We recommend starting with a fitness class or soak in the eucalyptus steam room before blissing out with a signature massage, anti-aging facial, exfoliating scrub, and more.

IconBrickell Spa
Photo: Courtesy W Brickell

Treatment to book: For a Miami-style pick-me-up, book the Slim and Sculpt body treatment. An exclusive Thalgo body wrap is applied to infuse deep skin cells with pure oxygen for detoxification and the elimination of stored fats, followed by a sculpting massage to target stubborn “problem areas.”

The Spa at the Miami Beach Edition

Though Ian Schrager was forced to preserve many of the original details of Collins Avenue’s once-famous Seville Hotel (white marble floors and gold mosaic tile columns included), the hotelier’s Miami Beach Edition is today all modern, sleek, and sexy vibes—especially when it comes to the spa. Surrounded by sheer drapery and cozy Moroccan rugs, the lounge’s custom-designed daybeds will lull you into a relaxed state of mind before a treatment in one of nine spacious rooms. Glamazons, meanwhile, can top off their facial or massage in the Beauty Lounge, which offers nail, hair, and makeup services.

The Spa at the Miami Beach EDITION
Photo: Nikolas Koenig

Treatment to book: Healing Waves is a new offering intended to reduce stress, relieve inflammation, and promote deep relaxation. It uses BioWave technology, which employs noninvasive clips that will be placed in your ears (then topped with noise-cancelling headphones) to send electromagnetic waves through the body to stimulate nerves, increase blood flow, and release endorphins.

Remède Spa

Much like the hotel in which it’s housed, the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort’s Remède Spa is the epitome of refined luxury. The 14,000-square-foot Yabu Pushelberg–designed space is decked out in soothing neutrals and filled with 11 large treatment rooms, including one for couples that comes with a soaking tub for two. Guests can extend their relaxation in the Vichy rain shower room, Finnish saunas, and aromatic steam rooms; they can also book treatments in a private poolside cabana.

Lapis Spa

As one of Miami Beach’s most extensive facilities, Lapis Spa at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach is where you go to while away the day. There are 30 treatment rooms, including two oceanfront couple’s massage suites (with a shower and soaking tub for two) and two spa suites (each with a Vichy shower, tub, shower, and relaxation area). But before you indulge in a relaxing massage or body treatment, make time for a journey through the extensive hydrotherapy circuit, which uses mineral-rich water in mist, rain, and steam forms throughout its hammam, water-jet bath, eucalyptus steam room, and more. Beauty aficionados will also appreciate a new lineup of skincare treatments that include dermiplaning and cosmetic microneedling.

Treatment to book: The Royal Massage incorporates an ancient Japanese Kobido method of lymphatic drainage and muscle stimulation, followed by the application of a highly emollient body cream to hydrate and revitalize dry skin.

The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami

The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami strikes that hard-to-find balance of having something for everyone while avoiding a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all experience. So even if you choose a signature body treatment like the Oriental Essence or Therapeutic Massage—both of which blend Chinese, European, Balinese, and Thai techniques—the results will be highly personalized. Same goes for the facials: Each one is tailored to the unique skincare demands and lifestyle of the individual, incorporating products by Barcelona-based advanced skincare brand Miriam Quevedo, with which the spa is exclusively partnered.

The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami
Photo: Courtesy Mandarin Oriental, George Apostolidis

Treatment to book: The two-hour Kundalini Journey, performed in a luxurious spa suite, combines advanced massage techniques, aromatherapy, color, and gemstone therapy, as well as sound therapy to restore physical balance and promote overall wellness.

The Standard Spa

The Standard Spa at the always buzzy Standard Miami Beach is like Goldilocks—it’s ultra-cool and stylish, but set far enough away from the hectic heart of SoBe to ensure it is still a relaxing oasis. In other words, it’s just right. While the outdoor hydrotherapy, hammam, mud baths, and extensive list of treatments are enough to inspire a spa day, it’s worth a visit alone to meet the resident doctor of Chinese medicine, Lori Bell. Sessions with Bell can involve evaluating your personal medical history, gentle acupuncture alignment to correct imbalances (like insomnia or low energy levels), and celestial readings to help understand your health, happiness, overall wellbeing, and ideal path in life.

Treatment to book: Leisure and business travelers alike will take comfort in the Urban Warrior Ritual. The anti-inflammatory treatment starts with a muscle-relaxing hammam, steam, and sauna, followed by a soothing and detoxifying body mask, and a 60- or 90-minute Ayurvedic-oil massage to target stiffness and pain.

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club

The intimate, oasis-like spa at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club will lull you into seaside splendor as soon as you enter its bright, calming interior. Self-starting guests can get a jump on their treatment by first scrubbing down in the traditional co-ed hammam or sweating out toxins in the individual steam and sauna facilities. Then, they can shake off dull skin with an invigorating body scrub, target trouble zones in a Biologique Recherche Slim and Sculpt contouring wrap, wind back the clock with an anti-aging facial, or boost energy and chi within the body through reflexology—there’s no shortage of breadth or depth in options here.

The Spa at Carillon Miami

Set on 750 feet of private beach away from the mayhem of SoBe, Carillon Miami has all the makings of a destination wellness retreat. The recently revamped 70,000-square-foot spa (the largest in South Florida) touts an extensive menu of facials, massages, body treatments, and an on-site anti-aging doctor who can curb your hangover with IV Vitamin Therapy. When not hopping from one treatment to the next, guests can enjoy the spa’s extensive facilities—most impressive of which is the nine-station hydrotherapy circuit complete with an igloo. The gym is equally over the top, boasting a two-story rock wall (where vertical boot camp classes are held) and more than 300 fitness classes per week,ranging from TRX Strength to candlelit yoga. While you could spend all day indulging, it’s worth your while to schedule a consultation with the Wellness Medicine program’s doctor, who can create a personalized plan to improve your health, fitness, nutrition, and stress. (You can even enroll in the new elite membership program for regular visits with the doc.)

Carillon Miami
Photo: Courtesy Carillon Miami/Dominic James

Treatment to book: The Executive Physical is a must for working professionals who struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The program’s in-depth analysis incorporates state-of-the-art laboratory and diagnostic tools to create bespoke programs that help maintain peak health, even for those with a jam-packed agenda

Bamford Haybarn Spa

Lady Carole Bamford brings her stylish approach to wellbeing Stateside with the first offshoot of her holistic wellness center, which originated on Bamford’s own farm in the Cotswolds. Cult followers of her 360-degree take on wellness flock to the 4,500-square-foot space on the second floor of the sweeping 1 Hotel South Beach to indulge in Ayurvedic massages and facials that employ aromatherapy oils, circulation-boosting jade stones, and stress-relieving techniques such as yogic breathing. Be sure to leave room in your suitcase for a few of the hotel’s specially formulated, certified-organic skincare and body products.

GUYandGIRL Spa

Take one look at the GUYandGIRL Spa’s black-and-white color palette, lacquered accents, and patterned wallpaper, and you’ll recognize the signature cinematic flair of Dutch interior designer Marcel Wanders. The spa, located at the Mondrian South Beach, covers all the requisite bases—deep tissue massages, reflexology, and hydrating facials—but the latest programming is uniquely designed with today’s fitness fiends in mind. The hotel recently partnered with Fitbit to launch a series of monthly workouts for both solo travelers and families led by local fitness experts, and will soon host Surf Yoga Beer retreats centered on interactive group activities like poolside yoga, boot camp classes, insider’s tours of Miami, and more (including, of course, lots of local beer sampling).

Acqualina Spa by ESPA

As the acclaimed brand’s first location in the United States, the Acqualina Spa by Espa has long set the standard in the Magic City thanks to the brand’s personalized treatments, innovative products, and aesthetic sense of place. The two-story, 12-treatment-room facility marries the beachfront vibes of Miami with the stately, Mediterranean villa-style architecture of Acqualina Resort & Spa, a 98-room resort and residential community. Case in point: the picture-perfect spa pool, with its Roman waterfall and gorgeous Atlantic Ocean backdrop.

Acqualina Spa by ESPA
Photo: Courtesy Acqualina Resort & Spa

Treatment to book: Try something new with the Sound Care Ritual, a music-intensified therapeutic treatment. Acqualina is the first U.S. spa to adopt Sound Care technology, a French-based music application that is clinically proven to provide natural solutions for sleep disorders, pain management, stress, and anxiety.

Agua Spa

Ride the elevator to the penthouse of the swanky Delano South Beach and you’ll arrive at the 3,500-square-foot private haven that is the Agua Spa. There, you will find a range of classic massages and body treatments, plus preventative aging facials. If you don’t have time to make full use of the facilities before your treatment, hang around after to detox in the eucalyptus steam room, relax in the tranquil lounge area, or catch some rays (with a healthy dose of SPF layered over your massage oil) at the rooftop Solarium.

Delano South Beach
Photo: Courtesy Delano South Beach

Treatment to book: If your skin could use a bit of a warm, South Beach–inspired boost, book the Sunless Kiss Body Scrub, which follows an exfoliating body scrub with a light spray tan, so you can head down to the beach with a confident (if faux) glow.

Cowshed Spa

With its reclaimed barn wood, custom upholstered furniture, and floral-printed drapery, the Cowshed Spa at Soho Beach House is your country-house fantasy realized. The second-story space, outfitted with five treatment rooms and multiple lounges, is a quiet cocoon away from Miami’s party scene, available to both Soho House members and hotel guests. The all-natural namesake product line is incorporated into many massages, facials, waxing, and body therapies. Mani-pedis are especially next-level: Guests lounge in plush chairs that are outfitted with retro televisions and wireless headsets.

Cowshed Spa at Soho Beach House
Photo: Courtesy Soho Beach House

Treatment to book: Soho Beach House is the only outpost of the Cowshed Spa to offer an Oxygen Facial. The advanced skincare program incorporates SkinCeuticals masks and serums to replenish oxygen levels in the skin, smooth out wrinkles, and promote collagen production.

Ciel Spa

Checking into the Ciel Spa at the buzzy SLS Brickell is the ultimate antidote to Miami’s many vices. The environment is soothing yet playful, and guests who book a treatment will also have access to the Altitude Pool Deck and state-of-the-art fitness center. So whether you prefer to get a good sweat in before an Assisted Stretch Therapy treatment or lounge in a daybed after a Sonic-Wave Facial (the microcurrent penetrates to the deepest layers of skin for instant, youthful plumping), prepare to power down your phone and go off the grid.

Ciel Spa at SLS Brickell
Photo: Courtesy SLS Brickell

Treatment to book: The Rose and Aloe Sun Cooler Wrap is an ideal way to soothe skin after long days under Miami’s blazing sun. It starts with a mist of rose hydrolat, followed by a cooling massage with rose-quartz crystals, a rose-and-aloe-vera gel wrap, and the application of rose-quartz crystals on facial meridians to restore balance.